Not
wanting to rest on the laurels of Windows 7, the best-selling
operating system in its storied history, Microsoft is racing
to develop its successor, code-named
Windows 8. That upcoming product is rumored to be slotted
for a late 2011 launch.

A Microsoft enthusiast blog
called Microsoft
Journal has posted some
leaked pieces of information from a presentation Microsoft gave OEMs
about the upcoming OS. The site, run by Francisco Martin,
quotes Microsoft as writing, "Windows 8 PC's turn on fast,
nearly instantly in some cases, and are ready to work without any
long or unexpected delays. When customers want to check e-mail,
sports scores, or play media they love to reach for their PCs because
they can get to what they want quickly."

Along the lines
of improving startup times, Microsoft wrote that it wants to work
with OEMs to focus on improving POST performance, S3 resume
performance, and general performance optimizations for each of the
Off states. All of these improvements would ultimately yield a
system that is ready for action faster.

The blog also cites
Bluetooth 3.0 and USB
3.0 as critical tools in Windows 8's drive for fast
computing.

The OS reportedly will also integrate hardware
sensor-driven improvements found in smart phones into desktops and
laptops. The leaked text states, "Windows 8 can adapt to
changes in ambient light, so that the display is always easy to
see."

The post also
mentions potential 3D-TV/graphics
improvements, including a 3D-display-ready version of DirectX.
Hard drive encryption performance improvements also appear to be on
the agenda.

"So, I think the same thing of the music industry. They can't say that they're losing money, you know what I'm saying. They just probably don't have the same surplus that they had." -- Wu-Tang Clan founder RZA